Complaint Review: James Kurt Skinner - Milton Florida

O.K., Look, In response to question 1. When I left him I was 22yrs old with a 2 and 3 yr old. Scared out of my mind and the complete legalities were not explained to me in full. So what i read i believed that he had full custody. I was in a domestic violence shelter and they appointed an attourney to me. She was not a very good one. I grew up living a sheltered life, I didn't know much and didn't have the guts to find out. Response to question 2- Since I believed he had full custody when he sent them to me the last time I made him write a letter to DCF that he is signing custody over to me. I also have a letter from his mother because while in his care she was the primary care giver and she was the one who brought them to me. That's how I was able to file for child support. response to question 3- No I did not have to pay child support to him because he knew I couldn't afford it so he never filed for it. and besides he did not have them for the whole 5 yrs. as I said when he was tired of them or couldn't handle them he sent them to me. so it was pretty much as if we had joint custody, because each time I had them it was for 6 months or more. To add one more thing when he sent them to me the last time it was because his girlfriend at the time gave him an ultimatum her or the kids. Obviously he chose her.

Please go and look at your papers that you have, all of them! Somewhere it should list who has legal custody or guardinship. Someone has too, there has to be a legal guardin. You did say that at one time he had temp custody, do you think he may have actually gotten custody and you are unaware of it? Papers could have been filed and you were not notified. This does happen, all to often. When I divorced, the first thing my attorney asked was are there kids involved and I did get temp custody UNTIL we went to court to settle the divorce. Once we got into court the first thing the judge asked was are there kids involved? She would not move on to anything else until she knew the kids were taken care of, ie. custody and child support. I was awarded custody and he visitation. If he has custody, he may think he does not owe you any money. if you have legal custody, he is commiting a crime for not retuning the kids. all states are different and I can only go by New Mexcio divorce and child custody laws, but this is something you really need to check into. Good luck and keep us posted.

Few more questions.. You said: "There is no actual court appointed custody. In 1999 I left him and took the kids with me. He went and had a temporary custody order that only lasted 6 months. I didn't know it was only a temporary order until late 2004. 1. You didn't KNOW IT WAS TEMP ORDER? It's your kids, you didn't read the agreement? 2. If there is no actual court appointed custody how can you have a court appointed child support agreement? 3. Did YOU PAY HIM CHILD SUPPORT FOR THE 5 YEARS HE HAD YOUR CHILDREN? "Neither one of us have legal custody. I however do have a legal child support case against him." I do not understand how this is legally allowed. Please explain further

There is no actual court appointed custody. In 1999 I left him and took the kids with me. He went and had a temporary custody order that only lasted 6 months. I didn't know it was only a temporary order until late 2004. Since 1999 whenever he got tired of them or couldn't handle the resposibility he passed them to me. the last time he did that was on February 25, 2004. We had an agreement that he was going to pay me $400 a month. when he stopped paying i filed for child support on December 2, 2004. December 2005 I give James's mother permision to take them to Virginia for Christmas to visit their great grandfather. she never returned. Neither one of us have legal custody. I however do have a legal child support case against him.

Please explain this situation further. Why is he paying child support if he has custody? Did he owe it to you when you had custody and now that he does, are you paying him?